Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
following zone types: primary zone, secondary zone, and stub zone. Primary and stub
zones can also be Active Directory-integrated zones.
Active Directory-integrated zones have the advantages of automatic replication, multimas-
ter replication and update, secure updates, and efficient replication. The scope of Active
Directory zone replication can be forest-wide, domain-wide, or custom.
A zone can be a forward lookup zone or a reverse lookup zone. FLZs contain host records
primarily. Reverse lookup zones contain PTR records.
SOA records contain information about a zone, including its serial number and a number
of timers used for zone transfers. NS records specify the name of a server that's authorita-
tive for the zone.
Subdomains can be delegated to a zone on another server to improve performance and
control replication scope. Stub zones are often used to keep delegation records up to date.
Zone transfers can be full or incremental and occur from a primary or secondary zone to
a secondary zone.
Advanced DNS settings include configuring forwarders, root hints, round robin, recursive
queries, and logging.
Tools for monitoring and troubleshooting DNS include Dnscmd, Dnslint, Nslookup,
Ipconfig, and Performance Monitor. You need to understand the DNS query process to
troubleshoot DNS problems efficiently. Performance Monitor is used to gather counter
data on DNS activities. You can save data to a log as a baseline and compare it with data
gathered later when there are problems.
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Key Terms
Active Directory-integrated zone A primary or stub zone with the DNS database stored in
an Active Directory partition rather than a text file. Because Active Directory zones are
replicated to other domain controllers automatically, only primary and stub zones can be
Active Directory integrated.
authoritative server A DNS server that holds a complete copy of a zone's resource records
(typically a primary or secondary zone).
caching-only DNS server A DNS server with no zones. Its sole job is to field DNS queries, do
recursive lookups to root servers, or send requests to forwarders, and then cache the results.
conditional forwarder
A DNS server to which other DNS servers send requests targeted for
a specific domain.
DNS namespace Defines the structure of the names used to identify resources in Internet
domains. It consists of a root name (defined as a period), top-level domains, second-level
domains, optionally one or more subdomains, and hostnames separated by periods.
Dynamic DNS (DDNS) A DNS name-registering process whereby computers in the domain
can register or update their own DNS records.
forwarder
A DNS server to which other DNS servers send requests they can't resolve
themselves.
forward lookup zone (FLZ) A DNS zone containing records that translate names to IP addresses,
such as A, AAAA, and MX records. It's named after the domain whose resource records it
contains.
GlobalNames zone (GNZ) A new feature in Windows Server 2008 that provides a method for
IT administrators to add single-label names (computer names that don't use a domain suffix)
to DNS, thereby allowing client computers to resolve these names without including a DNS
suffix in the query.
glue A record An A record used to resolve the name in an NS record to its IP address.
iterative query A type of DNS query to which a DNS server responds with the best
information it has to satisfy the query. The DNS server doesn't query additional DNS servers
in an attempt to resolve the query.
 
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